Women Make Political Gains in 2005

The world witnessed a number of major political achievements for women in 2005, from the election of Africa's first female president to the first polls in Saudi Arabia to include women.

Iraq and Afghanistan saw women come out in large numbers to vote and run for positions in their countries' first permanent postwar legislatures, while Liberia and Germany both voted a woman to the top political office for the first time.

In the Saudi city of Jiddah, women were given an unprecedented opportunity to run and vote in an election, and two won seats on the local chamber of commerce board.

The foundation was laid for the election of Chile's first female president in an upcoming runoff vote, while Japan will review a bill in January to allow women to assume the imperial throne.

"This has been a year in which women have taken grassroots struggles and transformed them into something bigger by developing a very considered political strategy," said Kavita Ramdas, president of the San Francisco-based Global Fund for Women, which provides grants to women's rights groups around the world.

"Ten years ago, we would say we want laws to protect women," she said. "Now we are saying we also want women in there who are the lawmakers."

Worldwide, the number of female members of parliament reached a high of 6,960 -- or 16.1 percent -- in 2005, according to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union.

A look at some of the most significant political gains for women this past year:

Liberia

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won a runoff election in November to become Liberia's next leader, as well as the first elected female president in Africa.

Johnson-Sirleaf -- a former finance minister and veteran of Citibank and the United Nations -- said in her acceptance speech she would end the period of corrupt, male-dominated rule in war-plagued Liberia, and she called on women across Africa to help govern their countries.

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Afghanistan

Afghan women increased their voice in national politics in September, when 68 female candidates won seats in the 249-member legislature -- the country's first parliament in more than 30 years. In accordance with Afghanistan's postwar constitution, a quarter of the seats were reserved for women.

"The women in parliament will be a voice for the half of this country who have been silent for so long," said one of the winning candidates, Safia Siddiqi.

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Saudi Arabia

Two businesswomen became Saudi Arabia's first female elected officials in November, a major step in a country where women cannot drive or travel abroad without permission from a male guardian.

Lama al-Sulaiman and Nashwa Taher won election to the chamber of commerce board in Jiddah, Saudi officials confirmed Nov. 30.

After the city's Trade and Industry Chamber initially rejected the nomination of 10 women for its board of governors, a flood of petitions from Saudi businesswomen prompted the trade minister to open the door to female candidates and allow women to vote.

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Germany

Angela Merkel took power in November as Germany's first female chancellor, two months after a fiercely contested election ended with neither major party winning an outright majority in parliament.

The former scientist, who heads the conservative Christian Democratic Union, is also the country's first leader to grow up in the former East Germany.

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Iraq

Iraqi women are guaranteed basic legal rights, such as voting and property ownership, under the country's new constitution, though there is some concern that Islam's constitutionally established role in governing divorce, marriage and inheritance may chip away at women's freedoms.

While its exact composition is still being determined, at least 25 percent of the new four-year Iraqi parliament elected Dec. 15 has been set aside for female lawmakers.

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Chile

Michelle Bachelet is poised to become Chile's first female president in a runoff election on Jan. 15.

Bachelet, a former pediatrician and member of the outgoing president's center-left coalition, received 46 percent of the vote in the first round of elections, but was short of the absolute majority needed to avoid a runoff.

She faces multimillionaire conservative Sebastian Pinera, whose poll numbers have risen in recent weeks.

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Japan

The Japanese government plans to submit a bill to parliament in January that would allow the female child of a monarch to ascend the throne.

Since 1947, only males who have emperors on their father's side can succeed the Chrysanthemum Throne. Japanese royals are currently facing a succession crisis due to the absence of a male heir since the 1960s.

The bill has wide public support, according to recent polls. About 71 percent of respondents favor breaking the male-line imperial tradition.